Swimming in 2005

Originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content. Learn more.

This article was originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year, an annual print publication that
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In 2005 swimming superstars Ian Thorpe of Australia and Amanda Beard of the U.S. decided to skip the entire year of competition—Thorpe to focus on his burgeoning commercial empire and Beard to concentrate on her budding acting and modeling career. Their absence was scarcely noticed, however, as 11 world long-course records were set, 9 of them in July at the 11th Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) world championships, held in Montreal. Records held by Thorpe and Beard were among those to fall.

The American men and Australian women dominated the competition in Montreal. The U.S. claimed the overall team title with a total of 32 medals (15 gold, 11 silver, and 6 bronze). Australia was a strong second with 22 medals (13 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze). Swimmers from 12 countries earned gold medals, and 24 countries had at least one medalist. Though eight athletes won two individual events apiece, Australia’s Grant Hackett was the only swimmer to win three events. Hackett took the 400-m freestyle (3 min 42.91 sec), 800-m freestyle (7 min 38.65 sec), and 1,500-m freestyle (14 min 42.58 sec) and led from the first stroke to the last in every race. His performance in the 800 m broke by 0.51 sec the previous world record, set by Thorpe at the 2001 world championships. With his win in the 1,500 m, Hackett became the only swimmer ever to win the same event in four consecutive world championships. It was also his 7th individual world championship gold medal—more than any other swimmer in history. At year’s end Hackett was named by Swimming World magazine as the male World Swimmer of the Year, just edging Aaron Peirsol of the U.S.

Peirsol took the 100-m and 200-m backstroke events in Montreal, lowering his own world record to 1 min 54.66 sec in the latter race. Brendan Hansen of the U.S. renewed his credentials as the world’s fastest breaststroker by taking the 100-m and 200-m events. Meanwhile, another American, Michael Phelps, the star of the 2004 Athens Olympics, passed up two events in Montreal in which he held the world record—the 200-m butterfly and 400-m medley—to try to extend his dominance to two new events. The experiment proved less than spectacular, however, as Phelps finished seventh in the 100-m freestyle and failed to qualify for the 400-m freestyle final. He nevertheless emerged from Montreal with come-from-behind victories in the 200-m medley and 200-m freestyle. Rounding out the 10-victory performance by the American men, Ian Crocker stopped the clock in the 100-m butterfly in the world-record time of 50.40 sec.

Roland Schoeman of South Africa broke the world record in the 50-m butterfly twice in two consecutive days in Montreal. He ultimately clocked 22.96 sec in the event. The explosive Schoeman also won the 50-m freestyle in 21.69 sec, just five-hundredths of a second off Russian Aleksandr Popov’s world standard.

In the women’s competition, Australia’s Leisel Jones broke Beard’s world record in the 200-m breaststroke, finishing in 2 min 21.72 sec, and edged American Jessica Hardy to claim another world title in the 100-m breaststroke final (though Hardy had scored her own world record of 1 min 6.20 sec in the semifinals). Jones’s performance earned her Swimming World’s female World Swimmer of the Year honours. Hardy also finished second behind Australian Jade Edmistone’s world-record time of 30.45 sec in the 50-m breaststroke. Distance phenomenon Kate Ziegler of the U.S. secured wins in the 800-m and 1500-m freestyle races. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry upset American Natalie Coughlin to win the 100-m backstroke in 1 min 0.24 sec before cruising to a second gold medal in the 200-m backstroke. Katie Hoff of the U.S. staked her claim as the world’s most versatile female swimmer with victories in the 200-m and 400-m individual medley.

Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland lowered her own world record in the 200-m butterfly to 2 min 5.61 sec, finishing just four-hundredths of a second ahead of Jessicah Schipper of Australia. The thrilling finish was marred by controversy, however, as television replays seemed to show Jedrzejczak touching the wall with one hand instead of two as required under FINA rules. Nevertheless, officials failed to call the apparent transgression, and FINA rejected the Australian protest that requested that videotapes be used to determine the legality of Jedrzejczak’s finish. On October 1 Jedrzejczak was seriously injured in an auto accident that claimed the life of her brother and put her future in swimming in doubt.

In the open-water competition at Montreal, Dutch star Edith Van Dijk ended her career in spectacular fashion. After more than five hours of swimming, the 32-year-old Van Dijk won the 25-km event by a mere three-tenths of a second. She had a much easier time winning the 10-km race, and she took bronze in the 5-km event, which was won by Russian teenager Larisa Ilchenko. Van Dijk planned to retire at the end of the season. Among the men, Thomas Lurz of Germany and 17-year-old Chip Peterson of the U.S. shared top honours. Peterson, swimming in his first major international meet, nipped Lurz in the 10-km race and finished second to the German in the 5-km contest. Spain’s David Meca took the 25-km event.

FINA made several rule changes during the year, including the decision to allow breaststrokers to take one dolphin kick following the start of a race and after each turn. Even more controversial was the governing body’s decision to require athletes to advertise FINA corporate sponsors on their swim caps and on bibs worn over their national team uniforms. The move prompted complaints from several swimmers. The issue was expected to be resolved in 2006.

Four short-course world records were broken during 2005. Lisbeth Lenton of Australia set new marks in the 100-m freestyle (51.70) in August and the 200-m freestyle (1 min 53.29 sec) in November. Sweden’s Anna-Karin Kammerling lowered her own 50-m butterfly record to 25.33 sec, while in men’s competition, Schoeman and Ryk Neethling of South Africa both shattered the 100-m medley mark, with Neethling establishing a new standard of 51.52 sec.

Diving

China won gold in 5 of the 10 diving events contested at the FINA world championships, but the Chinese divers were no longer seen as invincible. Canada captured three golds in Montreal, and the U.S. and Russia each earned one. Divers from 10 countries won at least one medal, with China leading the way with 12.

Blythe Hartley gave Canada its first gold medal of the championships with a dominating performance on the women’s 1-m springboard. Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia finished first and second, respectively, in the 3-m event. Laura Wilkinson of the U.S. won the 10-m platform event in a contest marred by numerous blown dives. Wilkinson, the Olympic champion in 2000, led through all three rounds. The Chinese dominated both women’s synchronized events. Li Ting and Guo Jingjing teamed up to take the 3-m springboard crown with 349.80 points, more than 30 ahead of Germany. In the 10-m platform, Jia Tong and Yuan Peilin—aged 15 and 14, respectively—breezed to victory with 351.60 points.

Canada’s Alexandre Despatie won both of the men’s springboard events with brilliant performances. In the 1-m competition, he outclassed the field with 489 points. His victory in the 3-m event was even more stunning as he tallied a record 813.60 points. In an exciting 10-m platform contest, China’s Hu Jia came from behind on the final dive to overtake Cuba’s José Guerra and win with a score of 698.01. Teenagers Wang Feng and He Chong scored a decisive victory for China in the men’s 3-m synchronized event. Russia won its only gold when Dmitry Dobroskok and Gleb Galperin pulled away on the final two dives to take the 10-m synchronized crown.

Synchronized Swimming

At the FINA world championships, Russia managed to surpass its dominant performances in synchronized swimming at the 2004 Olympics and at the 2003 world championships. Led by Anastasiya Davydova and Anastasiya Yermakova, the Russians won three of the four gold medals in Montreal and added a silver. Davydova and Yermakova, winners of the duet competition in 2003, claimed the world title once again, easily besting second-place Spain and third-place Japan. The Russians collected their two additional titles in the team and free routine events. Only France’s Virginie Dedieu was able to prevent a clean sweep by the Russians. She scored seven perfect 10s and three 9.9s en route to becoming the first synchronized swimmer to repeat as world champion in the solo competition.